


you'll never know, dear

by writerblender



Series: much ado about nothing [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21913213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerblender/pseuds/writerblender
Summary: "and, there, live we as merry as the day is long."[or, a short little ficlet on saturday mornings with billy and his kiddos]
Series: much ado about nothing [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1416769
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	you'll never know, dear

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [new dad bliss](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/544117) by kingsandsaints. 



"Dad."

Billy's eyes shoot open as he sits up immediately at the sound of his eldest daughter's voice, still remaining mindful of where Henry is still resting beside him. It's a newly acquired skill since he's been with Bea and Henry but it's a welcome difference from fearing that every noise is a monster hiding in the dark to knowing it's most likely Beatrice quietly padding into the room, with nightmares of her own.

"What's wrong?" Billy asks, voice still heavy with sleep.

"I want to go to Aunt Robin's _now_ ," Bea responds, shrugging innocently as she peers over the edge of the bed, her stuffed dog, gifted to her by Steve for her last birthday and her best friend ever since, clutched tightly in one arm.

Billy can't help the way his eyes widen in surprise; he'd promised Robin that he'd bring Henry and Bea over for dinner after Robin had called, complaining that she and Heather hadn't seen their favorite niece and nephew enough recently. He'd figured he'd be wrestling Bea into her car seat to get her to go - he never imagined she'd be waking him up before his alarm in anticipation to get there. Before he can say anything, Bea speaks up again.

"How come Henry got to sleep with you last night?" She asks, tiny hand coming up to poke at her younger brother's foot.

"Don't do that," Billy says sternly and Bea huffs as she pulls her hand away. "Your brother wasn't feeling good last night; that's why he's not in his bed."

"Is he sick?" Bea asks, stuffed animal discarded to the floor as she attempts to climb onto Billy's bed with them. Bea's always been curious, trying to explore everything in sight since she could crawl, and today is no exception. Clearly, her view from the bedside is not good enough for her and Billy can't help but smile as he moves to help her up. The second she's atop the mattress, she scrambles onto Billy's lap, arms wrapping around his neck as she stares down at Henry.

"No," Billy replies. When Bea doesn't seem satisfied with his answer, he sighs, one hand coming up to tuck her unruly hair behind her ear. "He was crying."

"Why?" Bea demands instantly.

"You'd be cranky if you didn't get any sleep," Billy huffs and Bea immediately asserts that she most certainly would not. While she rambles in defense, Billy's gaze flickers to the clock by his bedside. It's barely eight o'clock; if Bea doesn't get back to bed, she'll need a nap before their dinner trip and Bea's been impossible to get asleep since she turned five and declared that naps were only for _babies_ and that she was a _big girl_ now. Luckily, once Bea has finished her argument, she yawns loudly.

"Can you tell me a story?" She asks.

"Somebody's sleepy," Billy teases, soft smile breaking across his face as Bea shakes her head, despite yawning again.

"No! I just wanna hear a story," Bea promises, eyes already flickering shut as she rests her head on his shoulder. "The one about the two princes."

The two princes. Bea's favorite story; of course, a creation of Steve's. A clever way to tell he and Billy's love story to Bea without her ever knowing.

Even in fantasy it seemed, Bea loves him unconditionally.

Billy brings a hand up to rub Bea's back, helping ease her back to sleep, as he begins, his voice soft. "There was once a prince in a kingdom run by a mean king. The queen had left when the prince was young and it made the king angry, because he was lonely now. The king became so mean that he made the prince believe that he had to be mean to all the subjects of the kingdom. Because the prince was also lonely, he listened to him. One day, the king found a new queen and new princess to rule the kingdom with. But, the prince was still lonely and the king treated him cruelly. That made the prince even meaner. But then, one day, another prince arrived..."

...

When Billy wakes up again, it's to Bea's foot kicking him in the stomach. He groans, moving to readjust Bea into a more comfortable position, only to find her no longer asleep on his chest. When he opens his eyes fully, his heart practically melts in his chest.

Bea is kneeling next to where Henry is lying, making silly faces down at her brother. Every few seconds, Henry lets out an excited squeal of laughter before Bea finds a newer, goofier expression to show him.

As Billy watches, he can only wonder how he got so lucky.

...

"You look like Samantha's mom."

Billy turns from where he's crouched in front of Henry's high chair, shoveling applesauce into Henry's mouth for breakfast, to find Bea standing in the kitchen doorway, cereal bowl clutched tightly in both hands. He'd left her to watch Batman, her favorite Saturday morning cartoon, which was still beyond his understanding, despite Bea explaining that she had to like him because their names both started with B (" _duh_ , Dad!"), and assumed he'd have a few peaceful moments to try to successfully get Henry some breakfast. He should've known better, if this morning was any indicator, and most of the applesauce was on every part of Henry's face _except_ his mouth.

"I do?"

"Yeah. She was feeding Samantha's sister when I slept over," Bea informs him, quietly padding in her pajama-clad feet towards the sink to place her empty bowl down. "But _she_ did a much better job. You're just getting it all over."

Billy huffs out a small laugh at Bea's observation, which causes Henry to giggle as well. Bea moves to stand next to him, hands once again reaching to poke at Henry, which Billy manages to stop before Henry can get more excited and send more applesauce around the room. Bea pouts at his decision, but not for long.

"Don't worry, Dad," she assures him. "It's okay. You don't have to be good at feeding Henry. He just throws it all up anyway."

Billy laughs, genuinely now, and Bea beams at the approval of her statement.

"Plus," she adds, halfway back towards their living room, where Batman has started up again. "Your hair is _way_ better than any of the other moms."

**Author's Note:**

> for syd, of course and always ❤️
> 
> inspired by the linked artwork!! and s/o to syd for bea's name, as always.
> 
> title is from "you are my sunshine," specifically the line "you'll never know dear / how much i love you," which i felt described billy pretty well in this fic!
> 
> ALSO also this is unbeta'd we die like men on ao3
> 
> kudos and comments pay me better than my minimum wage holiday retail job :)


End file.
